By Karen Blackledge
The Daily Item
May 13, 2008 06:00 am
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NORTHUMBERLAND -- When Shikellamy standout wrestler Colton Reed was injured in a dirt bike accident, his team decided to help.
Wrestlers collected money at school, placed contribution canisters in businesses and hope to hold a car wash to help Reed and his family financially.
Many team members have been visiting the teenager while he is undergoing therapy at Gesinger's Healthsouth Rehabilitation Hospital, Shikellamy wrestling coach Brett Michaels said.
"The day after the accident happened, a bunch of the wrestlers and kids he rides bikes with wanted to come up with a way to provide support," Michaels said.
A junior, 16-year-old Colton suffered a traumatic brain injury after he fell from his dirt bike April 29 while riding on private property near Northumberland. Colton also has a broken arm and cuts on his face.
He was on a ventilator the first few days.
"He has had lapses, but he's doing real well at the rehabilitation hospital," his mother, Karen Reed, of Northumberland, said Saturday.
She said he is talking and walking and hopes to go home this week. After that, he will return for therapy several days a week as an outpatient. But, he will need around-the-clock supervision while at home, said his mother who has been staying with him at the hospital.
"I have been off work until further notice," she said.
Colton -- who was wearing a helmet and other protective gear -- was hurt while attempting a triple jump. Mrs. Reed said the bike apparently landed the wrong way.
Colton has been riding dirt bikes about three years, she said.
Among the businesses where canisters have been placed is Dynamic Wings in Shamokin Dam. Colton's brother Brett, 17, has cooked there for about 18 months and Colton had been an employee for two months, Brett said.
Coach Michaels, a Danville resident, tries to get to the hospital every day and speaks with Colton's mother almost daily. The other coaches also frequently visit Colton, a district champion last year, he said.
"He's come a long way in the last week and a half. That Tuesday evening, he had all of us pretty well worried," Michaels said.
Colton was a patient in the intensive care unit and then moved to the special care unit before being transferred to the rehabilitation hospital. At Healthsouth, he is undergoing occupational, speech and physical therapy.
"He's in good spirits -- he's very strong-willed. I think more than anything he wants to continue to progress and get back a normal lifestyle, and he's well on his way," said Michaels.
Michaels' brother, Justin, of Lewisburg, who coaches with Brett, is vice president of Surplus Outlet. The wrestlers hope to hold a car wash to benefit the Reed family at the Surplus Outlet on Route 11 near Northumberland on Memorial Day weekend.
n E-mail comments to kblackledge@dailyitem.com.
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